The Mousetrap

Season Five rounds out with The Mousetrap – the longest running show, of any kind, in the world. It is quite simply a great piece of theatrical history because of what it is, a whodunit written by the greatest crime writer of all time.

The Mousetrap is about a group of strangers stranded in a boarding house during a snow storm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions that are in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone.

Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis. He no sooner arrives, than the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer's pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present, and rattles a lot of skeletons. Another famous Agatha Christie switch finish! Chalk up another superb intrigue for the foremost mystery writer of her time.

The Mousetrap has been thrilling audiences from around the world at St. Martin's Theatre in London for as long as HRH Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne. On the 25th of November 2002 a Royal Gala Performance was held, attended by Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

Production Notes